Yesterday (March 30) was the 48th anniversary of Land Day. Per BDS Movement: “On this day in 1976, Israel’s apartheid forces murdered six Palestinians (all “citizens”) as they took part in non-violent protests against the relentless settler-colonial theft of their land. Every March 30th, Indigenous Palestinians everywhere commemorate Land Day in honor of the struggle against Israeli settler-colonial oppression and for liberation.”

Colorado Palestine Coalition organized a rally and march yesterday which Zippy and I attended. We hadn’t been able to attend any rallies/marches for a bit so it felt good to be back with like-minded folks who refuse to remain silent as our government ignores our calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and continues to send billions of dollars and bombs so that Israel may continue its campaign of death, disability, and destruction in Gaza. It’s cathartic to march through the streets, (loudly) chanting in unison on behalf of Palestinians and to call out our so-called representatives for their complicity in the genocide.

People were also there on bicycles in solidarity with Gaza Sunbirds (The Gaza Sunbirds are a para-cycling team, consisting of 20 athletes, based in the Gaza Strip. The team was founded in 2018 when Alaa al-Dali, an Olympic hopeful cyclist, was shot in the leg by an Israeli sniper. They are currently distributing aid.). Donations can be made HERE.

One of the speakers said that while the turnout in Denver wasn’t the largest they’d seen, it was still incredibly gratifying to have that many people show up for Palestine on a spring Saturday. Another speaker asked people to raise their hand if they’d just learned about Palestine last year and LOTS of people raised hands which felt incredible on two levels: incredible in that so many people had now joined the movement(!) but also incredible in that they were ignorant of the situation due to the pro-Israel/anti-Palestinian filter through which we in the U.S. receive our information.

The tide is changing. Israel’s brutal assault, which has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians (70% of them women and children), the forced starvation, the destruction of hospitals, universities, neighborhoods, the assassination of journalists, academics, poets, healthcare workers, and aid workers, along with the dropping of white phosphorous with the intent of destroying the agricultural  land and making that land uninhabitable, all of this brutality (and more) is on display for the entire world to see. We see this gleeful brutality and there will be no returning to the status quo.

Please, if you haven’t yet spoken up on behalf of Gaza and all Palestinians, it’s not too late. And if you don’t feel as if you understand the situation enough, I highly recommend “They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl’s Fight for Freedom” by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri. (A Palestinian activist jailed at sixteen after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers illuminates the daily struggles of life under occupation in this moving, deeply personal memoir.) I just started reading it (after seeing this blog post) and find the memoir highly accessible and engrossing.

The Palestinian people have been resisting for decades and millions of us around the world are also resisting on their behalf. Palestine will be free.